New Bishop of Hartford Archdiocese Named

By Jim Shay
The News-Times - off Beat
October 29, 2013

http://blog.ctnews.com/offbeat/2013/10/29/major-announcement-in-hartford-archdiocese-this-am/

Bishop Leonard Blair. Courtesy of ArchdioiceseofHartford.org

His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair, STD as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The announcement was made today, Tuesday, October 29th at 12:00 noon, Vatican City Time (7 a.m. EDT).

Bishop Blair will be officially introduced as the new archbishop during a press conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary, 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, this morning, Tuesday, October 29th, at 10 a.m. The press conference will be streamed on the archdiocesan website at: archdioceseofhartford.org and ortv.org. It will be broadcast live on WJMJ-FM Radio (88.9/Hartford, 93.1/Hamden, 107.1/New Haven).

Bishop Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has been the Archbishop of Hartford since December 2003, and who has passed the age of retirement.

Archbishop-designate Blair will be installed as the Archbishop of Hartford on Monday, December 16th at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford

There was speculation that Archbishop Henry Mansell, 76,  may announce plans to retire. Mansell had previously said on WFSB’s “Face the State” that he had told Pope Benedict XVI in Octobert 2012 that he was ready to retire.

The announcement is planned for mid-morning  at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary, 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield.

Mansell, who has been Hartford archbishop since December 2003, conducted the installation ceremony for Bridgeport Diocese Bishop Frank Caggiano last month in Trumbull.

While much of western and southwestern Connecticut is in the Bridgeport Diocese, New Milford and other Litchfield County towns are in the Hartford Diocese.

The Archdiocese of Hartford comprises the counties of Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven and includes approximately 700,000 Catholics. Over 500 priests minister within the Archdiocese, serving 213 parishes as well as other apostolates. The priests are assisted by almost 300 deacons.

Hartford was established as a diocese on November 28, 1843 and created as an archdiocese on August 6, 1953.